


Unhinged People

by CC99trialanderrorgirl



Category: Hawaii Five-0 (2010)
Genre: Character Study, Meta, Other, relationship dynamics
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-29
Updated: 2017-03-29
Packaged: 2018-10-12 10:07:38
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 644
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10488399
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CC99trialanderrorgirl/pseuds/CC99trialanderrorgirl
Summary: Steve and Danny get along because they are both slightly unhinged people.





	

**Author's Note:**

> A/N - I've been an avid fanfic reader and writer for much of my life, but I've never posted on AO3 before because I'm afraid of criticism or my work being stolen. However, I'm trying to do more things that I would normally be afraid of, and this is one small step for me. So, please be kind, and I hope you enjoy this work even half as much as I enjoyed writing it. -CC99

Steve and Danny get along because they are both slightly unhinged people. It just manifests in different ways. For Steve, it’s in the way that he never looks before he leaps, always throwing himself headlong into danger without a thought. For Danny, it’s the opposite. He’s all about trying to make sure no one ever needs to take those actions, trying to keep the people he loves out of danger with the sheer force of his own feelings. Danny is a hurricane, a focused, fierce whirlwind; and Steve, Steve is the aftermath, the chaos, the action writ in broken bones and scarred hearts and fallen palm trees. They’re two sides of the same coin, and that’s why they work so well together.

It’s how Steve can spin on his heels, rocketing into the Camaro and whipping the chassis around on a dime, and Danny, no matter what, Danny is right there with him, keeping up despite all appearances that he is the sane one. It’s why at a restaurant, when someone is rude to his daughter and Danny gets in their face, Steve is right there, looking menacing at his partner’s side, backing up his threats and calming Danny down, bringing him back to himself. They work in sync this way, each balancing out the other, functioning as a unit but still no less unhinged for what they are as individuals.

Because Danny isn’t the crazy one, and neither is Steve. No, they both have their issues, things guaranteed to set them off; for Steve, it’s fathers and children, and for Danny, it’s children and fathers. Neither of them tolerates injustice well, or disrespect, or greed or hatred or any of the other ugly emotions a person can choose to act on. They may not be perfect themselves, but they are undoubtedly better together. The funny thing is, they’re the only ones who don’t see it.

Criminals see it, colleagues see it, friends can’t _un-_ see it, this thing with them, where they orbit around each other just a little bit, have been since the moment they met, carefully pacing around each other, one foot in front of the other, like they’re still adjusting to each other’s movements in that darkened garage. It’s a pattern that hasn’t stopped; it’s only grown more pronounced, like lines drawn in the sand that are somehow never washed away, more of a petroglyph than a sand-message: Steve goes left, Danny covers him on the right, even if all they’re doing is walking into a restaurant together.

It’s unconscious, and innate, and strangely beautiful, watching two people so completely in sync and yet so unaware of it. Sitting at the table with the team, Steve will laugh low in his throat, throw an arm around the back of Danny’s chair, and Danny, he just leans into it, touching his head off of Steve’s shoulder for a second. It’s like they’re grounding each other, constantly in contact – touch, speech, general aura, it doesn’t seem to matter as long as it’s _them_.

They do it during cases, during downtime, hell, they do it in the car. Everything they do is a play off each other. Their personalities are no different. They’re both crazy – one is loud with his feelings, the other reckless with his body, but it’s the same thing, isn’t it? And the opposite is true, too. While Steve is cautious with his emotions, Danny is more apt to take physical care of himself and those around him, especially in the way he prefers to pause and process the scene before leaping into a dangerous situation. Steve just jumps right in, and that in itself is a little bit unhinged, but the crazy thing? The crazy thing is that for everything he is and isn’t, Danny follows Steve right into the fray. _Unhinged_ , _yes_ , _but perfectly matched in their disarray._


End file.
